Roller-boat.



4 R. E. SHARP.

ROLLER BOAT. APPLIOATION F ILED OCT. 9. 1908.

- Patsnted Apt-27, 1909.

1 NW m wk M n d R S V m or W5 7 W A E M WITNESSES QM 4404 1 iwi/fi k R. E. SHARP.

ROLLER BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED 001s, 1908J WITNESSES v/J/ A TTOHNEYS R! E. SHARP.

ROLLER BOAT.

-APPLIOATIOH FILED 001'. 9, i908.

Patented Apr. 27, 1909.

4 BHEBT$-SHEET 3.

TN E SSE S A 7TOFINEYS R. E. SHARP.-

ROLLER BOAT.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 9, 190B.

PatentedApr. 27, 1909.

4 SHEETS SHEET 4r.

a m u ms NW1. MB

WITNESSES 5M #MLWA A ZTOHNE Y8 J To all whom it may concern:

Improved Rol er-Bpet, of whichthe followthe hoot and looking toward the stern.

of Neweygo, in the county of Newey'go and vention is to produce-e boat having a simple host lhosc shells are rotutolil mounted in l Each section hose depressed head '30 and it rr ostrich.

RALPH EVE Rl'l. SHARP, OF NEWAYGO, MICHIGAN ROLLER-BQAT.

Be it known that I, RALPH Evnnrr til-nine, a. cltlzen of the United States, and a resident State of Michi an, have invented a new and ingis efu'll, clear,v and exact description.

Tl'llS' inventlon relrtes to small leesurw boats or launches, and the ob ect o the mconst'ruction which will be economical to build, and having .im roved propelling mechanism and improve steering gear.'

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Reference .is.to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure if is a plan of a boat constructed eccordingto my inventionyFig; 2 is a side elevation of the boatgiFig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the stern of the boat and illustrating the construction of the transmission gcer for driving the ropellers; 4 is a section througl'ione of t 1e end bearings for the propellers; Fig.5 is a vertical section taken at the stern of the hunt and showing thc construction and errmigemel'it of the goal case; Fig. ti is a longitudinal section through the forward portion of one-oi the ropellcrs; Fig. 7 is a. trontelevation of the lioot; and Fig-.fi is a cross section through llei crrii'ig inorc 'mrticulm'ly to the parts, 1, 1, represent the propellers oi the boat, and those are in the form of hollow cylinders having cone-she. )cd heads 2, from which extend shnl'ts 3 which are rotatulily mounted ill the forward cndot the boot in the ends of the forward ironic 4, and at the reair oi the lhe ends of the stern l'rmne 5; The stern l i'rnine 5 is in the lorni oi an arched truss which extends Lrmisversely oi the host, the ends of the truss being slightly depressed, as indicated ()n tliesofl'rninos 4 and :"1, the main l'riunc or body (3 ol the boat is .supi ported. The body of the bout is'i'ol'mcdl cent-rally inton pit 7 lmving a sunken deck 8.

At the sides of this pit '7, the boat is built with an overhung or seet deck 9 which propeach sleeve is provided .with an integrel col- 110 Specification of Letters Patent. *Application ma October 9,

Patented April 27, 1909'. 1908. Serial No. 156,851.

jects at each side of the boat, as shown. This sent deck 9 is provided with cushions 10 u )on which assengers may sit facing inwardly- Jlhe shafts 3 of the boat, at the rear are provided with rocket wheels 11 and l2 re'spectively, in iceted in Fig. In the rear portion of the host, an engine 13 mounted, the shaft 14 of which extends rearwardly into it gear case 15, as indicated 'Inost clearly in Fig. 3. Vithin this gear case a bracket 16 is provided, on which there is rotatably mounted an idle bevel gear wheel 17. On the shaft 14 a bevel gear wheel 18 is provided which meshes with the bevel gear 17, as shown. This bevel gem-'18 is formed with a sprocket wheel 19 which is in alinement with the aforesaid sprocket 'wheel 11, and is connected therewith by av sprocket chain 20, as indicated in Fig. v5. The

sprocket wheel 1 end the'sprocket chain 20 are completely inclosed in a trunk or extension 21 wl'iich extends downwardly from the gear case 15. On the shaft 14, a-hevel gear wheel 23 is rotatably mounted, and. this bevel gear wheel meshes with the bevel ear wheel 17. The huhol' this bevel gear w eel 23 is formed with n. sprocket wheel24l which receives a. sprocket chitin 25, end this sprocket chain runs over the sprocket wheel. 12 at the right-hand side of the boat. This arrangement isvery clearly indicated in F ig. 1. The gear 15 is provided with a trunk or extension 26 which completely incl'oses the chain 25, and the gear wheel 12.

The propellers 1 constitute iloetsand give 1 the host )uoyancy. The n'ianner' in which these pro iellers are constructed is clearly illustrated in Fig. 0. The shafts 3 are provided at intervals along the length thereof with. upset necks 27 which are threai'led so to receive clamping nuts 28 respectively. Between these hnnping nuts, the propeller sections 2f-l iire secured in place. 'lhese sections are. of cylindrical lorin, shown.

projecting head 31, so that when the sections conic together they interlock with each other, its indicated. At the white where the nuts 28 are located, the howls are recessed so as to form )ockets' 32, as shown. Between the heeds, through the center of each section, a tubular shaft or inner sleeve runs. 'lhcse sleeves extend through openings 34 formed centrally in the heads. At one end pellers by suitable fastening devices 41.

- rudders 52 at the how are lar35 which seats against the adjacent head i bulkheads 38 formed by the abutting heads 31. Beyond the cone tips 36, clamping nuts 39 are provided which seat upon the tips 36 and actas check nuts to prevent any possi- 'ility of the sections becoming loose. On the puter sides of the propellers or cylinders 1, propeller blades 40 are provided. These lades are simply in the form of helical fins which are removably attached to the pro- In order to reduce the friction at the bearings for the shafts 8, I provide the bearings with balls 42 which run in suitable rabes, as indicated in Fig. 4. Y

Referring now to the steering mechanism,

as indicated in Fig. 1, near'the four corners' I I of the body of the boat, rudder posts 43 and 4A are rovided, the rudder posts 44 being disposed at the stern, and the rudder posts 43 at the bow. These rudder osts are suitably mounted in bracket bearings +15 below an are suitably mounted in bearings 46 on the under side of the overhang of the boat body. The rudder posts 43 are provided with sheaves 47, and the rudder posts 44 with similar sheaves 48. In the bow of the boat, and Wheel 49 is provided, having a drum 5U around which 'an endless steering cord or cable passes. This steering cable passes around guide sheaves 50 as indicated in Fig. 7, and then around the sheaves +17 of the forward rudders 52 in the manner indicated, and passes around the sheaves on the rear rudder posts in an opposite direction, as indicator The arrangement is such that the rudder posts on the right have the cable passed around them in opposite direc tions so that the movement of the forward rudder 52 toward the left will be sinn'iltaucouswith the movement of the rear rudder 53 toward: the right, and. vice versa. The two parallel, and the two rudders 53 at the stern are parallel with each other. When the boat is advancin in a straight course, all the rudders are parallel. If'the boat is to be steered to'thc starboard, the wheel 49 will be rotated to starboard, which will throw the rudders 52 to port, and the rudders 53 to starboard. The forward rudders will evidently have the effect of turning the bow board, while the turn the stern toward the port side.

Iii this centrally disposed, a steering' of the boat toward starstern rudders will tend to E l l move out of a straight course.

way the boat is made to turn very rapidly, and is very sensitive to the action of the rudders.

, Referring a ain to the driving mechanism for the propellers, attention is called to the fact that the bevel gear wheel 23 willrotate in an opposite direction from the bevel gear wheel 18. From this arrangement it follows that the propeller on one side of the boat will rotate in an opposite direction from the propeller on the opposite side. This is an advantageous arrangement as it tends to prevent the boat from turning to It, of course necessitates the use of propeller blades of opposite character on the opposite sides, as indicatedin Fig. 1.

In case the wall of either lloat should become punctured, the bulkheads 3S operate to confine the water to the section of the float where the puncture is located. On account of the upset or enlarged. diamete of the necks 27 the nuts 28 can be readily sll ped into place over the unthreaded extcr sions of the-shafts. I

il-Iaving thus described my invention, I c aim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-

1. A boat having a pair of propellers on op )osite sides thereof, a body disposed llrerebetwccn, a driving shaft adapted to be driven by a motor and dispdsed centrally in said body, a bevel "ear wheel rigid with said s raft, a loose beve gear wheel mounted on said shaft, said bevel gear wheels having s )l'OCkQl) wheels formed thcreu on, sprocket cliains running over said sproc 'et wheels respectively and affording means for drivin said propellers, a bracket attached to sai body and projecting rearwardly under said bevel gear wheels, and an idle bevel gear wheel mounted over said bracket and meshing with said first bevel gear wheel.

. A float propeller for aboat of the class described, having a cylindrical body formed of cylindrical sections, said cylindrical sections having interlocking ends, a shaft extending continuously through said cylinder sections, having upset necks adjacent said heads, and clamping nuts on said necks for clamping said sections togcther.

3. A boat having a pair of starboard rudders disposed respectively at the bow and stern thereof and having a pair of ort rudders disposed respectively at the ow and stern thereof, and an endless stcering cable connecting said rudders and adapted to move the bow rudders in unison and substantially arallel with each other, said steering calilc being adapted to move the stern rudders in an opposite direction to the bow rudders and substantially parallel with each other.

4. A boat of the class described, having a pan of fioatpranell.

therebetween, means for driving said fleet l the stern rudders in an opposite mamier' propellers in 0 posite direeiions, a pair of from its attachment to the bow rudders starboard rudd ers disposed respectively at whereby the rudders ah the stern move 0pposibely to the bow rudders. 1'5

the bow and stem, a pan of port rudders dxs osed IQSLIWCUVGLV at the bow and stern, In test mony wl'rereo'i' I have slgned my an an en less steering (able connecting name to this specification in the presence of szudrudders and zrfi'ordmg means for opertwo suhsrrlbmg wltnesses. atmg the same 11) unlson, the bow rudders RALPH EVERY! SHARP.

being arranged pz'rrailel with each other and 1 Witnesses: the stern Iudmrrs hem arranged parallel MAUDE PHILLIPS, Wlfll each ether, sand ceb le hemg attached to CHAS. E. PHILLIPS. 

